Editing, Proofreading, Reviewing and Other Stuff

Marigold Deidre Dicer has been reading since she fell in love with Enid Blyton’s mysteries at the tender age of eight years old. She began writing full length stories at fifteen years old, and the novelty hasn’t worn off. :) Please welcome paranormal urban fantasy author, Marigold Deidre Dicer, to A Well Read Woman blog! I encourage everyone to leave her a supportive comment!

Hi Marigold. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed on A Well Read Woman Blog! Please, tell us a little about yourself and your background.

Well, I’ve gone back to uni to become a high school teacher, since my career in geology didn’t… ugh… let’s just say working in a literal hole wasn’t the dream job I hoped it would be. I’ve always loved reading, way, way back to the hungry, hungry caterpillar days, though Enid Blyton was the first author whose books I…

I received the OK to read and review. Will let you know what I think.

I haven’t read William Gibson recently – but Hannu may just get me back on the hard science fiction track. The book is available from Netgalley – click the cover to go to the NG page. I requested it. It usually takes a few days to get a “yes” or “no” from Netgalley.

Description

“A storytelling skill rarely found from even the most experienced authors.”
—Library Journal

“Hard to admit, but I think he’s better at this stuff than I am.”
—Charles Stross, author of Accelerando and The Rapture of the Nerds

With unbridled invention and breakneck adventure, Hannu Rajaniemi is on the cutting-edge of science fiction. His post-apocalyptic, post-cyberpunk, and post-human tales are full of exhilarating energy and unpredictable optimism. Whether the next big step in technology is 3D printing, genetic alteration, or unlimited space travel, Rajaniemi writes about what happens after.
Tachyon Publications

“Spectacularly and convincingly inventive, assured and wholly spellbinding: one of the most impressive debuts in years.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A stellar debut.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Rajaniemi has spectacularly delivered on the promise that this is likely to be the most important SF novel we’ll see this year.”
—Locus

NetGalley Members Say…

Ralph Blackburn

Recommends This Book Strongly

Hannu Rajaniemi exploded on the international Science Fiction scene with the publication of THE QUANTUM THIEF and its predecessors involving the exploits of Jean Le Flambeur in a Post-Singularity future. But before this awesome event, Rajaniemi had steadily been publishing short stories of the quantum future in his native Finland and adopted Scotland. Here are the bulk of those stories, and they are quite something different indeed. This is not your father’s Science Fiction, no, and to describe it as “Hard Science Fiction” is misleading. This is ultra hard and mesmerizingly adroit writing, that reminds one of the first time encounter with William Gibson or Bruce Sterling at the beginning of Cyberpunk. So different and intoxicating in structure and idea. In fact, the ideas fly so fast and furious, you find yourself turning back to earlier passages to solidify your connection to the writing. There are seventeen award-worthy stories here and then it gets even stranger, for Rajaniemi began writing Twitter stories( 140 characters or less!) and explains this and includes multiple examples. Some people will be put off by the dense writing and the scatter-shot barrage of concepts, but if you are looking for something intriguing and are willing to work a little- the future is yours

Brooke Gessner

Recommends This Book Yes

A wonderful, bizarre, cyberpunk-ish, post-human collection of short stories. Not all of the stories shine, and often I was left wanting more, but overall, a delightful, thought-provoking collection. This was my first introduction to Hannu Rajaniemi, and I will definitely be seeking out more.

Authors:

We always want the happy ending. Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Frog Prince. We all want a Fairy Godmother, you know how it goes.

Once Upon A Fairy Tale tells the stories again – only not in the way we expect them. Of course, Grimm’s original stories weren’t as we think (the stepsisters cut off their toes to try to fit into the glass slipper, you know) but these stories are quirky and strange, funny and twisted, and a great lot of fun! Here, Little Red Riding Hood wears the cloak because it really does hide those nasty stains from being married to a vampire. And being arrested by the Fairy Tale Police for kidnapping Beauty and being a Fairy Tale Killer, (I didn’t do it!!) makes it a really bad day for Melinda Lightfoot. These twisted tales are a hoot, and such great fun to read. For everyone who loves fairy tales, but knows that living with Prince Charming after the wedding doesn’t always mean “Happily Ever After” I highly recommend it!

Once upon a Time, in a Kingdom that was just a little twisted…

This oh-so-funny anthology is well worth a happy Sunday of tea and giggles!

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own, and I really enjoyed it.

I have been reading some silly stuff this weekend – when I can’t sleep, sometimes the simple is the way to go – like with “The Soldier’s E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Series Book 1). Not that romance is ‘silly’, just that I have been doing the ‘serious’ thing for a while, so some lighthearted reading has been just the ticket for the weekend.

This book by Cora Seton made me laugh – hard. As in, I nearly dropped my reader in the tub, and drowned myself at that, laughing so hard! This is somewhat of a trope – the mail order bride thing. Of course, updated for a modern ‘mail order’. The degree of humour in this book has it on my “watch for these” list.

The Hall brothers grew up at “Crescent Hall” on the Hall Ranch in Chance Creek, Montana. Until, that is, their amazing, loving father dies without warning. Suddenly they find themselves and their devastated mother stuck in Florida, their beloved ranch passed to their father’s brother, Uncle Zeke. Not that Zeke knows what to do with the ranch – other than let it run down. Now, Zeke is dead, and to keep the ranch from his useless son Darren, Great Aunt Heloise has decided to turn the ranch over to the boys – as long as they are married, and at least one new wife is pregnant, within the year. Kind of hard when each of the four brothers are in the military and posted in Afghanistan. What to do? Well, run an ad, of course – just like in the 1800’s when newspaper ads asked for mail order brides for cowboys, these cowboys need to find brides as well. Only, Afghanistan is quite a bit farther away from Montana. . .so brother Lieutenant Commander Mason Hall as put together an ad, and Colt, his youngest brother, and Zane and Austin, the twins, need to follow along – – whether they like it or not. And especially in Colt’s case, the not is the thing. An Air Force combat controller, Colt intends to remain in the Air Force, whether Mason wishes it or not. Zane and Austin are amenable – but since Mason is getting out first, the weight falls on him.

Regan Anderson is making huge changes in her life. She has quit her boring banking job to start a new non profit consulting job. She has moved into a tiny studio from her nice apartment in New York, and now she has her life planned out – including having a baby on her own, raising it on her own, and forget dating for the next 18-years. Of course, when she sees the ad on Facebook while watching her favorite movie, Pride and Prejudice, while celebrating her new life with wine (and then, when the wine runs out, tequila) she can’t resist answering the ad in the language of Jane Austin (and this is where I nearly dropped my reader in the tub laughing so hard I could barely breath). The things we do when we are on the sauce, right? Of course, her letter is hysterical, and completely meant as a joke – surely the hottie hot hotties in the ad aren’t really doing something so ridiculous – it has to be a scam! But hey, “In short, you are really hot. I’d like to lick you.” as the last line of her letter is the proper response to an ad that asks for Skills required-any or all of the following: Riding, roping, construction, animal care, roofing, farming, market gardening, cooking, cleaning, metalworking, small motor repair. . .

If you want a funny romance, that has not only humour but some really great serious parts as well, I recommend it. I read Seton’s original stories “The Cowboys of Chance Creek” and they were good, but I am looking forward to reading more of “The Heroes of Chance Creek” if they are as humourous and this one was – and in other places, so serious and thoughtful.

I remember when it happened. In 1971 The Whitney Museum of American Art did something that sat the “Art World” on its ear. They displayed quilts in a museum setting: Abstract Design in American Quilts “bestowed institutional recognition of the artistry inherent in these humble textiles.”

Quilts have existed, literally, throughout history. While they are made from fabric, and therefore examples are hard to find before Roman times, scraps from that period have been found in digs. The Middle Ages hold many examples of quilted fabrics being used under the metal armor used by knights to shield their bodies from sharp edges and protect them from blows against the metal.

As a child, I remember quilts in wedding chests and on beds in country homes. They were often cherished and handed down by families. I also remember seeing exquisitely hand stitched quilts thrown in the trunks of cars by uncaring family members, and used under cars for changing oil. Quilts often, literally, “got no respect.”

I remember my first quilt show, at the local county fair. I worked for hours on end to stitch a Bargello quilt in all shades of reds. I very carefully chose all my fabrics, carefully matching thread colours to blend, not only to my top but to the floral background I oh-so-very-carefully chose to go with the top. I was soooo proud of that quilt!

Imagine my dismay when the judge, an elderly woman with a tight, lemon-pucker face, said, “You know, you could have won, if you hand just used the proper thread. Quilts are always quilted with WHITE thread!” As I looked at my much loved quilt, I gave up in tears. White thread?!?! All you would see would be the thread!! It would totally take away from my quilt! I gave my quilt away, and didn’t quilt again for years.

A few of the quilts hanging in the Whitney

Things have changed since then. Quilts ARE Art! And isn’t it wonderful? What used to be three layers of fabric (COTTON ONLY!!) batting (COTTON ONLY) and fabric (COTTON ONLY) bound together by thread (WHITE cotton only) to be shown only at the county fair, if you showed them at all, have now become magnificent art forms. And Art Quilts of the Midwest Linzee Kull McCray showcases the works of many of the premiere quilt artists of today. As a writer covering textiles, art, and craft, Linzee Kull McCray wondered just how deeply fiber artists were influenced by their surroundings. Focusing on midwestern art quilters in particular, she put out a call for entries and nearly 100 artists responded; they were free to define those aspects of midwesterness that most affected their work. Just as with any other art form, these artists are influenced by their surroundings, their time period, and their materials, much like the quilters of Gees Bend, Alabama were influenced by theirs. From the functional to the fantastic these 100

The stunning asymmetry and colour use of one of the Gee’s Bend Quilts. All the quilts are made of ‘found’ or cast off fabrics, worn clothing, feed sacks and sometimes, just sometimes, purchased fabrics.

artists work in fiber, certainly, but how they handle their materials is wide-ranging and exciting. All sorts of fibers are used – but how it is handled is deeply based in the idea of quilt as art. From new ways to utilize symmetry and repetition to new forms of dying, painting, uses of three dimensional forms and uses of non-fiber materials such as metals and jewels, the old has become new again, while still hearkening back to its historical roots, philosophy and culture.

If you are interested in art as a whole, or in quilts in particular, this is a beautiful book to add to your collection, whether as a coffee table book to browse at your leisure over a cup of tea, a fount of ideas for your own quilt, or a paean to beauty, this is a gorgeous book to add to your library.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.

Linzee Kull McCray

Linzee Kull McCray grew up in California and resides in Iowa. After nearly thirteen years as a writer and editor for the University of Iowa, she is a fulltime freelance writer with a focus on textiles, art, and craft. She is a contributing editor at Stitch magazine and her work appears in Etsy’s blog, UPPERCASE, American Patchwork and Quilting,Quilt Country, Quilt Sampler, Modern Patchwork, O magazine, and numerous other print and online publications.

The Question: Agatha and I have been wondering…where does the time go? No, I mean, really. Where does it go, once we’ve squeezed every bit of the life from a moment, and cast it aside, moving on to the next? Is there some graveyard for used hours somewhere? Or is it really relegated to crumbling photo albums and lines in a diary?

Just curious, here, on account of I seem to have lost a LOT of it lately. But I suppose that’s the nature of things–both losing time, and wasting more, wondering where it went. By my age, there are veritable slag heaps of lost time piled up behind me, but I’m finally learning that it doesn’t pay to worry about it. What does pay, sort of, is writing. So that’s where I’ve been in recent weeks. Writing my fingers down to bloody bones! Makes for a messy keyboard…